Ontario Consultations on Disclosure of Payments in the Health Care Sector

The Ontario government has announced¹ it is undergoing informal consultations with patients, health care providers and the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries on transparency in the health care sector. Specifically, the government appears to be considering whether it should implement public disclosure requirements relating to payments from the private sector to health care providers.

What You Need To Know

• Canada does not currently have legislation—either at the federal or provincial level—equivalent to the U.S. Physician Payments Sunshine Act which requires manufacturers to report payments to physicians or health care institutions. Some industry associations encourage voluntary reporting of such payments as part of the association's code of ethics.²
• The Ontario government has entered discussions regarding the current rules relating to payments, with the goal being an assessment of "what additional measures are needed to increase transparency in health care." The discussions are part of a broader effort to promote accountability and transparency.
• This is an informal consultation, which means there are no draft regulations or guidelines available for comment and no deadline to provide feedback.

Summary

The government is contacting specific stakeholders for their views on this matter. Interested parties should consider providing comments through the Open Government initiative³, or by contacting the office of the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care directly.

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¹ See: https://news.ontario.ca/mohltc/en/2017/07/ontario-consulting-on-transparency-in-the-health-care-sector-1.html

² For example, see Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC), Code of Ethical Practices, Chapter 3, as well as the Voluntary Framework on Disclosure of Payments undertaken by 10 IMC members: http://innovativemedicines.ca/ethics/voluntary-disclosure-of-payments/

³ See: https://www.ontario.ca/page/open-government?_ga=2.28492155.612365970.1501513216-1402457035.1468282985

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